PS3 to come with Full Linux


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I am sure loads of things that are needed to be ported to the Cell arch from x86 will be ported by the community if some stuff is left out of sony.....

So Openoffice, VLC and many more programs will turn the Ps3 as a potential great Media Centre with no limitations....how is that bad?

Well, it can't help that much if they're losing money on each system. Even though more people might buy the console, they're losing hundreds on each one. Most console companies make money fromt the games that are sold and if they're just being pirated, they won't be making money.

Like I said multiple times before, a little bit of piracy helps companies (look at the bold part). Of course that rampant piracy affects companies, an example for that is Sega and the Dreamcast. But when you play with pricay the right way (looking like you want to avoid piracy, but purposly leaving bugs and holes for people to find, for example the PSP), you will have a product that will become famous for its customization.

I wonder how native ports of games (like Quake 3 or DOOM 3) or some APIs (like Cedega or Wine) will work on PS3 Linux.

Cedega and Wine only translate the Windows-specific calls to *nix ones. The rest of the code, it just runs on the CPU. Doing this gets an excellent speed in running the apps on a non-native platform, but the limitation is that it is tied to the x86 platform. The PS3 is not an x86 machine, so these two tools cannot be used to run apps (or games).

(*cough* PS2 hard drive *cough*).

The difference this time is that a hard drive will be included with every PS3, and it's already being used to optimise games. If developers know there will be a hard drive there, they will use it. The benefits were exhibited with the original Xbox.

Linux was released for the PS2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps2_linux)

Hmm...doesn't seem to great...why don't you just buy a computer?

This blurs the line between a Media Center and a Games Console. Some people might see it as good, though, but in the long run, it could destroy the industry.

I just hope that Sony is devoting SOME time to making games. It seems like all they are doing is adding "features" to the system...features that probably won't be supported by anyone (*cough* PS2 hard drive *cough*).

Seems to me that "Sony" doesn't really develop much in the way of games. They just make the console and get the game developers to develop for their platform.

I don't believe we will have a full Linux distro to play with, it will be HEAVILY restricted!

I think you're right. I think the PS3 OS will be built upon or derived from some form of *nix (like the original Xbox was with Windows 2000 kernel), but won't be what many people are expecting in terms of a full Linux distro, much like Sony's other exaggerated specs for the PS3.

You guys don't understand the PS3 OS will be completely separate from the linux distro. Its just gonna be a like a program you can run of your hard-drive via the ps3 interface.

I don't think that the Linux kit even has access (drivers) for the fancy 3D harware in the PS3. Just going to be a basic Linux, I think...

Well they do have a few months to get some people working on getting driver support for the hardware included in the ps3. And i'm sure there are linux people out there that would love to try to develop tools for the cell processor, so who knows what will be included in it. Plus it can be upgradeable as more things are developed. Depends on how much money they throw at making their own distro. I dont see how this could hurt sales though. It might not help sales a ton, but it will make some people that were iffy about getting one get one for the added potential, thats basically what it is, potentially something that people would use. But with this news, if i am to get a PS3 i might end up getting the 600 dollar one so that i have the bigger harddrive, although it leaves the window open for external harddrives thru usb, see... potential. Also, I hope that they put XGL on it. I've only toyed with it, but its pretty awesome to just move windows around with it.

A modable PS3 is an attractive PS3. I know some of my friends refuse to buy the Xbox 360 or PS3 until they're modable - and because of Cell, a modded PS3 used as a server would be very powerful.

A typical server workload is a great many threads of integer stuff. That is, code for the APU. The APU is an average PowerPC without even out-of-order execution, so, I expect the performance of a modded PS3 to be pretty lame in this scenario.

On the other hand, if you can make your server stuff run off the 8 SPUs (which are ?berDSPs), the picture changes completely. The Cell processor is really a bunch of really smart DSPs controlled by a very pedestrian supervisor.

Ok, for me personally, the reason I'd like linux on my console is that because I can. The line between console and computer is a rather artificial one. It has been more so since the dreamcast. Face it, your paying for a computer, why not get the full capacity of it? If someone were to sell you a 500 dollar desktop computer that only surfed the web, I'm sure you'd be pretty *issed. (Hint: Yes that is possible via Palladium, research it.) When I buy a console, My considerations are always towards, Will it run like a computer or will it be a [insert cost] dvd player. For those that don't like that idea, Fine. If your not being forced to use it, Why complain about it? If Sony wants to tout their ability to run a OS, Bolly for them. They are merely harnessing the potential of the Open Source Community. Why spend millions of dollars porting applications to their Arch when they can let loyal fans do it for them? :yes:

Check this article on more information about this article in which SONY talks LINUX on PS3...

In an intriguing turn of events, Sony executive Izumi Kawanishi has illuminated some of his company's PlayStation 3 Linux plans, indicating that it will be possible for individual 'homebrew' coders to create playable content for PS3, something actively blocked for Sony's PSP handheld.

Gamasutra

Do you really believe that Sony will let you have complete unrestricted access to a full operating system on its console, they do nothing but restrict you, just look at the PSP and them actively blocking any attempts to play homebrew on it. Why have the ability if people cant use it.

Do you really believe that Sony will let you have complete unrestricted access to a full operating system on its console, they do nothing but restrict you, just look at the PSP and them actively blocking any attempts to play homebrew on it. Why have the ability if people cant use it.

Look up ^^^

But, yes, this will probably be very restricted

Opps didnt see that, but my point still stands, i think it will have a very limited toolset, complete access would probably lead to people finding security holes and like the PSP i dont think sony would appreciate people being able to play ISOs off the HDD.

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